Solune
﻿ ﻿ 'Preamble:' Solune Belore is the full name given by The Veiled Priestess*, a Priestess of Silvermoon; to an ancient elvish God whom she and her chosen followers worshipped starting in ADP: 7 or 598 (By the King's Calendar), and continuing until 29 ADP, when the truth of the faith was revealed during the events of the Hour of Twilight. ' Further lore has since been discovered thanks to Garrosh Hellscream's tampering with the timeways and recreation of Draenor in Timeline B.' The Origin: Following the capture of the Elven Runestone at Caer Darrow, and likely comparing them to the Abrogator Stones that Highmaul once possessed, Cho'gall was keenly interested in the High Elven race and their magic. After corrupting the Runestone into one of his many Altars of Storms, Cho'gall found a hunger for more power. Dispatching a Gorefiend Era Death Knight named Grash'ka Lightbreaker (not her real name) to find a solution. Grash'ka soon realized that the easiest way to corrupt the people of Silvermoon would be to use one of their own against them. The High Elves were haughty, vain and foolish. Fertile soil for proselytizing if their potential could be cultivated. To achieve her goal, the Lightbreaker erased the mind of one of the High Elves that the Twilight's Hammer had captured during the fall of Caer Darrow, and began to train her as an operative and personal assassin akin to Garona Halforcen. That elf's name was Lacryma Devanti. Over the next thirty years Grash'ka would reclusse in her temple at Stagalbog and work to prepare the Twilight's Hammer's plan, by building a false religion that would become known as Solune. When the Quel'dorei were crushed by the Scourge and became the Blood Elves, the Lightbreaker saw opportunity and sent her pawn back into civilization, soon wearing Lacryma's body as if it were her own. Thus was born the Veiled Priestess'' (the name Veil a pun on the fact that the Arakkoa lived in Veil settlements, and the fact that Lacryma or Grash'ka to wit concealed her nature from everyone).'' VANILLA ERA (2004-2006): Lacryma soon made great trouble in Stormwind, coming into conflict with the Caelestis Templares. She fought with the Alliance Paladins, and aided those Blood Elves who strove to serve the Alliance but were mistrusted due to the Night Elves stories and their own addiction to magic. Gaining mutual friends in the nascent Dark Caste of Maevyn and Jaquio, the Lightbreaker soon had established a network of spies and operatives. This of course was part of a two pronged plan, designed both to cast the Alliance into Chaos so as to play to Archbishop Benedictus desire of a stronger Clergy, and also to begin seminary and uplift those who were tired of the Kal'dorei's "superiority complex" and presumption of being divine due to having been immortal for 10,000 years. THE BURNING CRUSADE: (2006-2008) Unfortunately, the Lightbreaker misjudged the power of the Naaru. Upon Lacryma's arrival in Silvermoon one of her first stops was to the newly formed Blood Knight Enclave. Believing the Naaru a slave, Cho'gall ordered the Lightbreaker to hasten it's transformation into a Void-God. Lightbreaker tried to do so by drawing power from the Naaru, but M'uru being a willing captive was able to reverse the spell so that instead of Lightbreaker corrupting M'uru and driving him to the darkness, HIS luminous energy would reawaken Lacryma and shackle the Lightbreaker in the darkest recesses of her mind. Being caught between polar extremes created a multiple personality disorder for Lacryma which would manifest several years later. Lacryma although amnesiac due to Lightbreaker's spells, did aspire to and join the Blood Knight Order during this time, often fighting Alahni lo Andu as a member of the Horde. When she was gravely injured by Starlear during a battle at Oshu'gun, Lightbreaker's consciousness was able to on a limited basis reassert itself. It would take some time, but Lightbreaker vowed that she would be free. It was only a matter of time.. WRATH OF THE LICH KING: (2008-2010) The war against the Lich King proved to be exactly what the Lightbreaker needed. It was a long, drawn out war that slowly chipped away at the sanity of Lacryma while strengthening the Lightbreaker. Following the Ulduar conflict, Lightbreaker managed to make mental contact with Maevyhn. Maevyhn watched and waited as the Crusade led the charge and crushed the Lich King. Following the battle, the Twilight's Hammer quietly reclaimed their errant daughter and restored the Lightbreaker. Now fully in command of a new body, the Lightbreaker prepared. As the Shattering rocked the land, the Priestess of the Sun to begin her seminary. Friends of Lacryma found it odd that she dropped her armor for skin and silk, but the nobles adored it.. Little did anyone suspect that the REAL war was about to begin.. CATACLYSM: (2010-2012) The Faith of Solune exploded on to the scene following the return of Deathwing and the shattering of Azeroth. Culled from Grash'ka's knowledge of the Arakkoa, and noting the similarities between the Arrakoa and the Sin'dorei, such as a shared veneration of the sun, a Phoenix God, and a deep contempt for Outcasts such as the wretched; the decadence of the High Arakkoa was adopted by many Blood Elves who embraced it with gusto. "The Radiant One" or "High Priestess of the Sun" as Lacryma soon came to be called, soon created several organizations focused on the defense of Quel'thelas by through nationalistic fervor, zeal and intolerance of the lesser races, while glorifying their High Priestess. Despite this, some Sin'dorei grew concerned while others became outright alarmed. While on the surface Lacryma seemed to be an enemy of the Twilight's Hammer, her sermons of fire and Light consuming the unholy became notorious due to the zealous fervor they incited. More often than not, Blood Elven mobs hellbent on killing Wretched and destroying any and all threats to the Sin'dorei (real or imagined) were common. Some Sin'dorei began to recognize the frightening similarities that Priestess Lacryma "Sunleaf" shared with the Ancient Queen, Azshara and knew that if she was not stopped soon, Lor'themar would be replaced by a new monarch that might be worse than Kael'thas. Yet none of the Magistry could of imagined the truth behind it however. The Lightbreaker was working with the Forgotten.' By appearing to be the "arch enemy" of the Forgotten, the Forgotten were able to identify major threats to the Twilight's Hammer and eliminate them.' The veil was torn following the death of Cho'gall when Benedictus, Apophus and Jaquio all began to fight for leadership of the Twilight's Hammer. When Benedictus was killed, Silvermoon recovered a ledger that revealed Lacryma's true nature, as well as her possession by the Death Knight, Grash'ka Lightbreaker. While some of the Horde wished her head on a stick, others saw an opportunity. In the brief time she had been sane, Lacryma had fought with honor as a Blood Knight and a Champion of the Order. Despite serious misgivings from some hardliners on the Magistry such as Venrome Kel'morthen and Magistrix Elynasun, a plan was hatched to try and either extract Lacryma from the Twilight's Hammer or kill the Priestess before she could deliver Silvermoon to the Old Gods. Elhanan Lightmender, Arkanae Sin'rendas, Archion Dawnfire and Kalirann Arcspire led a mission to the ruins of Aru'Talis where Dawnfire was able to rip the Lightbreaker from Lacryma's body. Elhanan then spent the next several months with his former sister in arms and worked to save Lacryma. Eventually he fell in love with Lacryma's niece Kayni as a result of these efforts. Kalirann having lost his best friend to the Forgotten twice, provided the remainder of the moral support Lacryma needed and slowly against all odds Lacryma Devanti began to heal. Refusing to allow the Cult a chance to regroup, Kierrynn Aeon, Keysnoloch Fallfire and Arkanae Sin'rendas personally led an attack on the Swamps of Sorrow with the now repentant Solunites and the Argent Resolve that saw the malicious Orc spirit Grash'ka Lightbreaker destroyed and sent screaming into the abyss. Her control over Lacryma shattered, Lacryma attached with the Crimson Illuminati out of a desire to atone for her unwilling part in the Twilight's Hammer, and fought with the Crimsons and the Ghostwolf Clan to bring the Serpent War to it's conclusion. Through the use of an Apexis Relic, Linthara was able to cut Apophan from his ascended state and strike him down along with the bulk of the Forgotten. In the end, the Arrakoa got the last laugh upon Lightbreaker for warping their religion. A "Goddess of Light and Fire" (Linthara) was aided by the deception of one who had been dragged into shadow (Lacryma), and the Serpent had been defeated as a consequence (Apophus). The Serpent War ended as a simple retelling of the war between Rukhmar, Anzu, and Sethe, though no one at the time realized this due to the ruinous state of the Outland. MISTS OF PANDARIA: (2012-2014) ' The story continued through the stories of the original Phoenix Guard and Sun Guard RP groups (not to be confused with the Guilds now operating under those names), but by and large the story was put on hiatus due to RL, and the greater threat of Garrosh Hellscream and Y'shaarj. ' ''' ''' WARLORDS OF DRAENOR: (2014 - Present) Three years have now since passed since the Serpent War. But now on Draenor the Adherents of Rukhmar live again, and the tale of Solune once thought closed is about to continue. Lacryma like Terokk himself finds herself outcast among her people. Betrayed by those she loved best, she must now walk a fine line between madness and honor as she seeks to understand the power of the Sun and the Shade. Yet even as she undertakes this effort, uumors persist of an ever-growing mass of swirling energy buried deep beneath Skettis, whispering promises of power to any who will listen.. DISCLAIMER / CREDITS: Solune is not Warcraft Canon. He is a made up God which I used to tell a story on the Server of Silver Hand and later Wyrmrest Accord. I somehow doubt Metzen would use him, even if the concept made some sense and "Sun Paladins" have been documented in Warcraft since 2004. I dispute the point that they should be exclusively human, since High Elves long venerated the Sun. Sinsaria: ''' Before our relationship deteriorated he helped me a great deal in shaping and designing what was drafted into the faith of Solune. His key contribution was the creation of the three Paragons of Pride, Power, and Perfection. Without him and countless other people's Red Pens of wisdom, I'd never of shaped it into something dynamic and fun for all of WRA! '''A lot of the concepts of Solune eventually became the frame work for the Phoenix Guard. '''It is unfortunate that our relationship has deteriorated, but it was not my decision or choice to see that occur. Due to various OOC reasons, I have been forced to retcon his characters out of the story. '''Inathia: She was one of the first people to groove on the concept of what grew into the Phoenix Guard, and eventually was appointed the commander of it by the Magistry. Sin, Ina and I held joint OOC control of that venture, but that is no longer the case for various reasons. It is unfortunate that our relationship has deteriorated, but it was not my decision or choice to see that occur. Due to various OOC reasons, I have been forced to retcon her characters out of the story. The Guild she now runs calling itself "Phoenix Guard" should not be considered to be connected to my stories in any meaningful fashion. Meako: She is the yin to my yang. <3 Menelwen: Menel's one of the server best, and a terrific RPer. Arietta: '''She's been a major help to me over the year and helped me to shape and figure out varied concepts. I miss our late-night RP segments hon. :) '